Holders for credit cards or other similar products are known per se in diverse forms from the prior art. A number of these known variants are shown in FIGS. 1A . . . 1G.
FIG. 1A shows a slip case having a front wall, a rear wall, two side walls and a base, which slip case has been manufactured from a relatively hard and inflexible material. Only a few (usually one or two) credit cards fit in this slip case. If more credit cards have to be stored, several slip cases then have to be used and the total storage volume rapidly increases.
FIG. 1B shows a sleeve made of a relatively flexible material. The sleeve consists of an elongated web of material with a pocket in the vicinity of the opposing ends, it being possible to insert a credit card into each of said pockets. The sleeve is folded up about a centre line to protect the cards. In this case also the drawback is that only a relatively small number of cards can be stored in this way, whilst, moreover, because of the use of the relatively limp material of the sleeve, little protection is provided against the cards bending (too far).
FIG. 1C shows a holder in book form with each "page" of the book consisting of a pocket, frequently made of transparent material, it being possible to insert one credit card into each pocket from the side. Because a separate pocket is provided for each card, the total thickness of this container will be relatively large. Putting away or removing a card can sometimes prove somewhat awkward, certainly in warm weather. Moreover, it is fairly laborious to remove grains of sand or other harmful dirt which can collect in the pockets in the course of time and there can lead to damage to the cards.
FIG. 1D shows a solution in which the individual slip-in pockets have been combined into a long strip which can be folded up in zigzag fashion. The disadvantages of this solution are the same as the those described with reference to FIG. 1C.
FIG. 1F shows a holder in book form in which the outside is made of hard plastic material. The cards are inserted in a harmonica configuration which unfolds when the outside walls are unfolded. The hard outside walls in themselves offer good protection against bending of the cards. A disadvantage of this holder is that the harmonica configuration takes up a relatively large amount of space and, moreover, the cost of the holder is substantially increased.
FIG. 1G shows a holder in which the slip-in pockets are located mutually offset in a row one above the other. A solution of this type is widely used in wallets and the like. In general, holders of this type are relatively voluminous, certainly compared with the relatively restricted dimensions of the stack of credit cards which have to be stored in the holder. In general, wallets are made of plastic materials which contain plasticizers. However, these plasticizers, which gradually diffuse from the plastic material to the outside, can attack the material of the credit cards. The cards become brittle as a result and any information which is present on the card can easily be lost.